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U.S. Marines Allegedly Urinating on Bodies; Mississippi Judge Blocks State From Releasing Some of Inmates Pardoned by Haley Barbour; Negative Ads in South Carolina
Aired January 12, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Let's go. Top of the hour.
Getting you caught up on everything making news, "Rapid Fire," beginning with a warning this hour. And I have to just warn you, what you're about to see is very, very tough to look at. It's an image that apparently shows U.S. Marines in Afghanistan urinating on Taliban corpses.
Here's a photo. This was pulled from a video that's cropped up on multiple Web sites.
U.S. and Afghan officials, along with the Taliban, they're condemning it in no uncertain terms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: I want to express my total dismay at the story concerning our Marines. Anyone found to have participated or known about it, having engaged in such conduct, must be held fully accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Secretary of State Clinton. In just a moment, we will show you the video.
Meantime, the parents of Natalee Holloway, they're in court this afternoon to have their daughter legally declared dead in her home state of Alabama. Holloway disappeared during a vacation to Aruba back in 2005. No one has ever been charged with her death. Her mother continues to work though with families of the missing. Her father wants to finally resolve Natalee's estate.
And a judge today blocked the state of Mississippi from releasing some of those convicts that were pardoned by the outgoing governor, Haley Barbour. But the problem is some of them have already been set free.
And now this today from Mississippi's attorney general. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM HOOD, MISSISSIPPI ATTORNEY GENERAL: These convicts got out and hit the road. Some we were shadowing areas we thought that they were located in. We have not been able to serve them at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Hood says -- the AG says he may issue a nationwide manhunt for these four. Here are their names and their pictures -- pay close attention -- convicted murderer David Gatlin, convicted murderer Joseph Ozment, convicted murderer Anthony McCray, and Charles Hooker, also a convicted murder.
The Coca-Cola Company says it's the one who tipped off the FDA about the traces of fungicide in imports of orange juice that's come from Brazil. Coke told regulators a couple of days after Christmas it had found low levels of carbendazim in its products, as well as those of competitors.
The fungicide is legal in Brazil. Coke, which makes Minute Maid and Simply Orange, says most of its OJ comes from Florida.
And a Cincinnati landlord found guilty of a civil rights violation has lost her bid to get the decision overturned. Jamie Hines (ph) says this sign -- can you see in the small lettering underneath? It says, "White Only." This is a sign on her swimming pool. She says it was an antique gift not aimed at her tenants, but neighbors, as you can imagine, they're pretty angry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASHLEY EVANS, NEIGHBOR: It's crazy. You wouldn't think because of all the things that have changed, you wouldn't think that that would still be a problem, being black.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: A former tenant said the sign went up after his 10-year-old biracial daughter used the pool. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission voted unanimously today not to reconsider its ruling.
And 220,000 people killed and 1.5 million left homeless by a massive earthquake. It was two years ago today that that tragedy hit Haiti.
Today, just about half a million Haitians are still living in these makeshift camps. Just about one-half of the rubble has been removed. The country's new president acknowledges recovery will indeed take time.
And our own Anderson Cooper revisits Haiti and talks with the new president tonight, 8:00 Eastern, only here on CNN.
More than 10 million mistakes were made in tax returns back in 2010. And according to the IRS, that number is more than double what it was five years earlier.
We're talking about math and clerical errors here. The moral of the story, check your tax returns once. Check them twice. Check them a third time before sending them on to the Internal Revenue Service. And on the heels of what had been encouraging economic news, more people filed for unemployment benefits this week than the week before. Nearly 400,000 claims were filed, and this comes after the good news. Remember just last week, in the jobs report? Most economists say not to worry too much because the levels are still near the lowest since the recession began.
And it may feel like winter, but Home Depot already looking ahead to spring. The home improvement chain says it will hire 70,000 temporary workers to handle its busy spring season in the U.S.
Folks, that's 10,000 more than they announced last year. While the jobs are temporary, Home Depot says there is a possibility of permanent employment for many of those they'll be hiring.
And we have a lot more to cover for you in the next two hours, including this --
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: No doubt, it is shocking. There is video apparently showing Marines urinating on bodies in Afghanistan. I will speak live with a Marine who knows the realities of this war zone very well.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(voice-over):
Twenty-four hours ago, dozens of inmates thought they were free, including rapists and killers.
HOOD: These families are afraid out here.
BALDWIN: Now, a sudden change after a last-minute decision.
A special CNN investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget.
BALDWIN: They lurk in the shadows and prey on powerful targets. We're going behind the mask of Anonymous. Amber Lyon joins me live.
Plus, Newt Gingrich says Armageddon is coming in the Republican race. This, as the Obama campaign reveals new campaign numbers showing a big bank.
And CNN investigates the near-misses, the crashes, and dangers in the streets.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Can you talk to us though about your training?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: Suspected Taliban fighters lying dead on the ground. U.S. Marines stand over them and start urinating on the bodies. That is what appears to be going on in a video that's now popped up on the Internet.
I want to bring in and welcome Marine Captain Timothy Kudo, a reservist who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He also works for a group called Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
And Captain, thank you for coming on. Do me a favor. Just stand by, because I just want to pause. We're going to show some of this video, and then you and I are going to talk about it on the other end.
But just a quick warning for anyone watching right now. The video, as you can imagine, is graphic, and what you are about to see you might find disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you get the middle guy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying. I'm trying. I'm trying. I'm working on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at mine. Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have a great day, buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that on video?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see you (INAUDIBLE) --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Golden shower.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Now, I should point out, we just learned the Marines Corps have pinpointed now which regiment those Marines are from. But as you can imagine, the outrage very much so immediate.
I want to read part of a statement. This is coming from Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "This act by American soldiers is simply inhuman and condemnable in the strongest possible terms."
AP quoting a Taliban spokesman. "This is a barbaric act. Over the past 10 years, there have been hundreds of similar cases that were not revealed."
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vowing a full investigation because of this, released a statement. In part, it says this: "I have seen is the footage and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms." Also, another layer to this story today. The timing, it's terrible. This video came out just as the U.S. has announced it would try to restart peace talks with the Taliban.
And that brings me back to my guest, Reserve Marine Captain Timothy Kudo.
Captain Kudo, first, just, immediately, ,your visceral reaction to the video?
CAPT. TIMOTHY KUDO, U.S. MARINES: You know, I'm absolutely disgusted by this both as a Marine and as an American. But I'll say that this is not widespread. This is the acts of a few individual who have acted in complete opposition to every single thing that the Marine Corps and that America stands for. And I hope that they're brought to justice.
BALDWIN: You say it's not widespread. I just have to push you on that. I mean, desecrating the dead, I just have to ask, how often -- you've been to both Iraq and Afghanistan. How often does this happen when a camera isn't around? Did you ever hear about this, anything like this?
KUDO: No, it doesn't happen, frankly. And that's what's so disappointing about this, because this is how people think that service members abroad act. And it's simply not true.
This is an isolated incident due to a complete lack of leadership and a complete lack of moral values, frankly. And yet, it's going to become a widespread opinion, and it's disappointing.
BALDWIN: As a captain, what would you have done if the men in the group were under your command?
KUDO: I think you would immediately detain them. I think you'd investigate them. I think you'd pass what happened up the chain of command and let the proper channels work. And I think that they're going to be prosecuted under the UCMJ, and they should be, and they should be dealt with accordingly, absolutely.
BALDWIN: As captain though, would you have known about it? These guys could have gone off and done this without you even knowing.
KUDO: You're absolutely right. And I think that there is a chance that their chain of command had no idea what was going on. Just as likely, they might have found out, and obviously, if they had, they probably would have prosecuted them themselves. So I think it's very likely that this is an isolated incident by a few Marines acting completely outside normal channels and basically going rogue.
BALDWIN: Let's hope so.
I did tweet out this story earlier, and I got a lot of different responses, both sort of agreeing with you that this is deplorable, but others -- and I want to read this -- "Why does the U.S. have to be good guys? Taliban are murderers." You have one group of Americans saying, look, this is the enemy, they've killed countless Americans. Who cares?
What's your response to that?
KUDO: Well, I think that that's what makes us different. And I think even tactically, beyond the ethical right and wrong of doing the right thing and giving them a proper burial -- I mean, we gave Osama bin Laden a proper Muslim burial. We can do the same thing for everyone that we encounter over there.
And I think it's more important to note as well that, tactically, it's important to win the hearts and minds of the Afghans. And doing something like this completely goes against everything that we're trying to accomplish there and makes it more dangerous for the service members that are going over there. My unit is deploying today, and they're going over there, and they are facing a much tougher situation now because of this video.
BALDWIN: Yes. How worried are you about your own service members, both men and women over there? Obviously this is going to resonate not just within your own service members, but Afghans as well. How worried are you?
KUDO: I think American service members have dealt with setbacks like this in the past, but all of them, except for these isolated few, have the honor, courage and commitment to be able to make a change in that country. And I think while this is a huge setback, they're going to be able to overcome it. And we've done that in Iraq, and I think we can do that again in Afghanistan, hopefully.
BALDWIN: Let me read something else. This is another tweet I got.
"Let me see. We train kids barely out of adolescence to kill, put them in a fight for their lives, and expect what, decorum?"
Talk to me, Captain Kudo, just about the mindset of a Marine. You're in war, and I imagine the anger toward the enemy is pretty palpable.
KUDO: I think it is, and especially when you lose your fellow Marines and you see the setbacks and you see what the Taliban has done to women and children in your area. Absolutely, you're frustrated with them, you're frustrated with the situation, and, you know, you want to stop what's going on.
But at the same time, you recognize that on a human level, you don't cross certain lines. There's still right and wrong in war. And I think that the people who recognize that more than anyone in the world are those who have been in combat, who have seen the consequences of right and wrong action and know that it's important to abide by those values more than anyone else.
BALDWIN: You talk about the fear, how this will resonate in Afghanistan. But you're a veteran. You work with veterans right here at home.
How will this story, how will this video, the ramifications of it, sort of perhaps change for the worse perception of veterans back here?
KUDO: I mean, I think it is going to change it for the worse. From now on, when I tell someone I'm a veteran, or I tell someone I'm a Marine, this is what they're going to think of. So my organization, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, is calling on the Marine Corps to investigate this, which they're going to do, and I'm encouraged by that, that hopefully we'll bring these people to justice and we'll be able to resolve our name.
BALDWIN: Captain Timothy Kudo, I appreciate it, and appreciate your service, as well. Thank you so much, sir.
KUDO: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
BALDWIN: Nearly 200 convicts pardoned in Mississippi. Fourteen murderers among those pardoned by Mississippi's outgoing governor, Haley Barbour. Well, now the state's attorney general coming forward today, firing back, saying it was a slap in the face of law enforcement and is accusing Barbour of running the state like a character from the '80s show "Dukes of Hazard."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOOD: Former Governor Barbour, he kind of ran the state and the governor's office like Boss Hogg. I mean, he didn't follow the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Boss Hogg.
Coming up next, what we have learned about some legal wrangling issues to block the release of the prisoners.
Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: If you thought there was already a loud uproar over Mississippi's outgoing governor handing out 199 pardons on his way out the door, stand by, because this uproar is going ballistic.
Want to great straight to CNN's Martin Savidge, who's live for us, been on this story all week there in Jackson, Mississippi.
And we know that part of the news today, Martin, this judge blocking the state from releasing some of the criminals that Haley Barbour had pardoned. But you talked to Mississippi's attorney general, and he's worried because some have already left. Am I right?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. That is the big concern, Brooke.
Ever since you had that release of five prisoners on Sunday, four of whom were murderers -- this is before the other 199 -- those four murderers have been the primary concern for law enforcement, and certainly for the victims' families, who fear that perhaps some of them might have -- well, revenge on their minds. So, last night, there was an emergency court order that was issued by a judge that basically put a halt to any further releases based upon the pardons that former governor Haley Barbour had promised.
That also said that the four murderers had to report in to the state attorney general's office. The only problem is, that does not apply until the court order is actually physically served to those murderers.
And here's the real problem. They don't know where they are. They have no idea where they are at this time. And the reason is, because the men were paroled, they were allowed to leave scot-free and were not obligated in any way to tell the state of Mississippi where they were going.
So now authorities have been given the task to try to find them so they can serve them this order, so that, then, those murderers could begin reporting in. But as I say, they don't know the where they are.
I talked to the state attorney general and -- well, listen to this conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Have you been able to serve this court order to any of the four murderers that were released on Sunday?
HOOD: Unfortunately, we have not. You know, these convicts got out and hit the road. Some we were shadowing areas we thought that they were located in. We have not been able to serve them at this point.
SAVIDGE: Well, the reason I ask you is that I've been told that until they've been served, they're under no legal obligation to have to report into your office or to report into the Department of Corrections. Is that right?
HOOD: Well, there's a court order out there that orders them to notify. They haven't been served with that yet.
You know, this is probably going to end up in some attempt by us to have fugitive warrants issued for these people. There's going to be a national search for some of them. We'll catch them. It's just a matter of time.
SAVIDGE: Do you know where they are?
HOOD: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: There's the problem, Brooke. They don't know where they are.
The real question here is, could they have left the state of Mississippi? If they've left the state, there is hardly any jurisdiction that this state has to go get them from somewhere else. BALDWIN: So, if they've left the state, he just mentioned possibly fugitive warrants. Are we talking about maybe a nationwide manhunt for these convicted murderers?
SAVIDGE: That's what it could come down to, but the problem is, to launch a nationwide manhunt, they have to have been charged with something. They're paroled. They left legally. They were free. So they don't have the anything to charge them with.
And this is what the legal scholars are going over right now. This is what law enforcement is going over right now. But it all goes back to the pardons that were granted by Haley Barbour. It is a mess.
BALDWIN: Indeed.
Martin Savidge for us in Jackson.
Martin, thank you.
To South Carolina we go. Political ads there, they're getting a little nasty. And if it's not the candidates themselves, it's their supporters who are cranking them out.
We're going to take you live to South Carolina after this quick break. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Time to touch base on the race for the White House.
As you know, the action this week focused on South Carolina.
CNN's Peter Hamby is standing by for us in Columbia.
And Peter Hamby, let's take a look first at this long-awaited television ad. We've been talking about this for a while. This is to be inserted into the race in South Carolina.
This is the one being run by the supporters of Newt Gingrich against Mitt Romney. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR (voice-over): A story of greed, playing the system for a quick buck, a group of corporate raiders led by Mitt Romney more ruthless than Wall Street. For tens of thousands of Americans, the suffering began when Mitt Romney came to town.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Subtle? Not so much. Let me just quote that again. "The suffering began when Mitt Romney came to town."
I mean, is that ad airing right now? You seeing it there on TV when you're popping the TV on? People talking about it at all?
PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: You know, I actually watched a lot of TV this morning. I was doing work while watching TV.
BALDWIN: Of course.
HAMBY: But I haven't seen it. And a lot of Republicans I've talked to haven't seen it yet either, which is curious.
That's just anecdotal, Brooke, obviously. But the Mitt Romney super PAC, "Restore our Future," has been all over TV, and lots of people are seeing it.
I just talked to a Republican operative at this event where Gingrich just spoke, actually. And he said his kids are now running around the house mimicking the "Restore Our Future" ad because they've seen it on TV so much. The Newt Gingrich ad supposedly has $3.4 million behind it. They've bought $1.6 million of TV so far.
Still haven't seen it. And I frankly haven't heard a lot of voters talking about it. But a lot of Republican elites and insiders, media, it's really consuming the race here right now, these attacks on Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital -- Brooke. I'm sorry, actually Mitt Romney.
BALDWIN: Let's listen.
HAMBY: I know. I had that sound bite. Romney actually. Sorry. Go ahead.
BALDWIN: Go ahead. Roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think any time a job is lost is a tragedy. For the family, for the individual that loses a job, it's just devastating. And every time that we invested in a business, it was to try and encourage that business to have ongoing life.
The idea of making a short-term profit actually doesn't really exist in business, because no one wants to buy something or buy stock in a company that's just going to be a short-term success. You want it to be long term.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMBY: Now, a lot of Republicans are rallying to Romney's defense. A Rick Perry backer actually flipped today and defected to Mitt Romney over these attacks about Bain Capital -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Well, we know that, also, Gingrich is catching a bit of flak for attacking Mitt Romney for doing what business leaders do; namely, firing people. But we've also noticed something else about some Web ads the campaign is running.
Here's one example.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROMNEY: So we went to the company and we said, look, you can't have any illegals working on our property. I'm running for office, for Pete's sake. I can't have illegals.
Ten thousand bucks? A $10,000 bet?
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not in the betting business, but --
ROMNEY: Oh, OK. OK.
I know what it's like to worry whether you're going to get fired. There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.
TEXT: Imagine what Obama would do with a candidate like that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: You saw the caption. Quickly, again, it read, "Imagine what Obama would do with a candidate like that."
Peter Hamby, Newt Gingrich keeps insinuating that Barack Obama would wipe the floor with Mitt Romney.
Are Republicans where you are, are they talking about that, that Gingrich, in essence, is elevating the president?
HAMBY: Yes. I mean, we saw in 2008, long, bruising primaries can actually benefit a candidate. They made Barack Obama a better candidate.
Newt Gingrich actually says hey -- or, excuse me, Rick Perry said just the other day, hey, if Mitt Romney is the nominee, we're making him a better candidate. But again, Republican elites are really frustrated with these attacks.
A lot of donors, a lot of the opinion leaders in the conservative movement have rallied to Mitt Romney's defense here. So it's going to be probably a nasty, divisive fight here, but Mitt Romney is still expected to win, if you talk to people here. Unless something dramatic happens in the next few days, he's on his way to a victory, and then heading down to Florida with a ton of money to run TV ads.
Brooke, it's going to be very hard to stop him. Someone needs to come up with a message that can take Mitt Romney out before that happens -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: All right. And we should just point out quickly before I let you go, you've got a great piece on CNN.com talking about, is it really dirty politics and a contact sport in South Carolina or not? So, Peter Hamby, thank you again.
Go to CNN.com to read that.
I want to move along though, because we just got news just into us here from our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
A Marine Corps official tells us that two of the Marines participating in the video we showed you just a couple of minutes ago have now been identified by name inside the Marine Corps. Now, the names, they're not being made public right now.
I just spoke with Marine Captain Timothy Kudo. We're going to put that up, his thoughts on how this video will affect and resonate both in Afghanistan, among Afghans and service members, but also change the perception, he said, negatively with regard to veterans here at home.
Just go to my blog. We'll get it up there, CNN.com/Brooke, if you missed it.
New claims today from Casey Anthony about how her daughter was conceived, the death of little Caylee Anthony, and a cover-up by Casey's father. Up next, never-before-released details from a psychiatrist and a psychologist who had conversations with Anthony before her trial.
Plus, this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That is dashcam video. This is of a city bus in Washington, D.C., hitting a person in a crosswalk. And even more video. Here you go. Tough to look at, another bus slamming into multiple cars here.
Coming up a little later this hour, we looked into this the rash of bus crashes and what's being done to keep it from happening in the future. Don't miss that investigation coming up here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Wild, jaw-dropping, bone-chilling, those are just some of the words, some of the adjectives being used to describe the latest revelations we're hearing now from Casey Anthony.
They come by a psychiatrist and a psychologist in Anthony's depositions. They examined Anthony in jail -- this was before her murder trial, so keep that in mind. But the big headline here, Casey Anthony claimed her daughter, Caylee, may have been conceived through date rape.
In one deposition, a psychiatrist who examined Anthony reads from the notes he took during interviews with Anthony. Let me read some of them for you, quote, "Took two beers. Possibly given another drug. Woke up passed out."
According to the psychologist's deposition, Casey Anthony didn't know who Caylee's father was but says she never considered abortion. She said, quote, "glad that she had Caylee. She immediately had love for her child."
He also noticed that, quote, "she was going to have the child. She was going to be a responsible mother. And there were no alternatives in terms of who would parent her child."
Wendy Walsh, she is a doctor of psychology and co-host of "The Doctors." Wendy, how does this, this news, how does it jibe with the images we kept seeing during the trial of Casey Anthony? You know, partying, out partying when her daughter was missing?
DR. WENDY WALSH, CO-HOST, "THE DOCTORS": Well, it certainly jibes, doesn't it? It makes sense. I don't know how she can equate the -- or figure out the exact date, though, of conception, because it seems by some of the early witness testimony that she was living quite a promiscuous life anyway.
So to determine if there was one partying night where maybe someone could have sort of put something in her drink and maybe she could have had sex while she was asleep, and maybe that was the big night, I don't know how you could go that far, based on her lifestyle.
BALDWIN: What about just even the process of, you know, these depositions, talking to psychiatrists, psychologists, these health experts? What exactly are they looking for when they're talking to a Casey Anthony, talking to someone before trial? What are they trying to find?
WALSH: Well, what they're trying to find is fitness to stand trial. And that's a whole different --and while they're saying she didn't exhibit signs of mental illness, we have to remember, they're trying to establish that she knows who she is, where she is, why she's doing what she's doing, and so that she's fit enough to stand trial.
That doesn't mean that she doesn't have a major personality disorder or that she's not a pathological liar in some way.
BALDWIN: Can they even tell? Can they tell, these professionals, if a defendant is lying and is it even their job to tell?
WALSH: It's not their job, because they're not putting this defendant on trial. They're basically analyzing whether they have an ability to know about their actions, understand the consequences of actions and know where they are and if they're fit enough to stand trial.
I mean, if she was hallucinating, if she was delusional, if she was in another world, then these would be red flags that would say, no, she has a serious mental illness but they did not say that. She was fit to stand trial.
BALDWIN: What about this, that during the trial, her lawyers contended that Casey had been sexually abused by her father when she was a child. And they also say -- said that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family pool, that Casey, you know -- and her father panicked when they found her. In fact, here's how the doctor describes Casey's account. Quote, "He was yelling at me, your fault. Can't believe you did this. She said he came out and said, 'Daddy is going to take care of it,' the same thing he used to say to me. He left the house with the child. That's the last time I saw her."
When you hear that, do you -- do you read any, I don't know, new revelations into this? I mean, we kind of knew by watching this trial play, day in and day out, this is a pretty dysfunctional family.
WALSH: Yes, it's definitely a dysfunctional family. We have to remember that the father was not put on trial here. Casey was the one arrested. The authorities thought they had enough evidence to prove guilt.
So all these things that may have come up in the courtroom were done to create a sympathy vote for the jury to keep her away from the death penalty. So we don't know what really happened, but the father was not on trial. Casey was.
BALDWIN: Yes, and we should point out, George Anthony, the lawyer released a statement after the depositions.
Let me just read it for you. "As he has repeatedly said prior to the trial, during the trial and after the trial, he never molested any member of his family, including Casey Anthony, and he had nothing to do with the death of Caylee Marie Anthony, including what happened to her remains after she allegedly drowned."
Wendy Walsh, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
WALSH: Thanks, Brooke.
BALDWIN: All right. Take a look at this video. This is a rash of city bus crashes. Perhaps you live in the District. Perhaps you know, Washington, D.C., here. We are talking about buses slamming into parked cars, even people, all caught on tape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN TODD, CNN REPORTER: That's pretty egregious, right?
JOAN CLAYBROOK, PUBLIC CITIZENS: It is egregious, and it's clearly the inattention of the driver that's at issue here. They clearly need to have more training if you have examples like this. And there are quite a number of these in a short period time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Coming up next, we investigate the crashes and what's being done to keep pedestrians safe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: How many times have you sat there in your car and you're watching this big city bus, trying to squeeze into a lane and make that tight turn? You're thinking to yourself, as you're cringing just a little bit, there is no way that driver's going to make it?
Well, that is becoming an all-too-familiar sight on the streets of Washington, D.C. And as Brian Todd reports, the city's own cameras have caught a rash of collisions and near-misses recently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brace yourself. On the right side of your screen, you're about to see a pedestrian get hit by a bus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no. Oh, no.
TODD (voice-over): The pedestrian, we're told, wasn't seriously injured.
Here a bus slams into an SUV stopped in a school zone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa. Whoa.
TODD (voice-over): Deja vu. Another one hits an SUV at an intersection with a child nearby. In clip after clip, collision or close call, all involving Metrobuses from Washington, D.C., sixth largest city system in the U.S.
CNN radio affiliate WTOP got the clips from the bus system through a public records request. The station says it got 134 near- collision videos, dozens showing actual collisions and violations covering just a two-month period last summer.
They're recorded on a device caused DriveCam, activated by G- force. In some of them, the incidents clearly are not the fault of the bus drivers. But in at least three of the clips, buses are shown running red lights. Look at this near-miss.
TODD: I mean, that's pretty egregious, right.
CLAYBROOK: It is egregious, and it's clearly the inattention of the driver that's at issue here.
TODD (voice-over): We went through the clips with Joan Claybrook of the group Public Citizens.
CLAYBROOK: They clearly need to have more training if you have examples like this, and there are quite a number of these in a short period of time.
TODD (voice-over): This in a city with millions of pedestrian tourists on the street each year. In addition to her comments about the possible lack of adequate training, Claybrook is concerned that a lot of these Metrobus drivers simply aren't aware enough of the sheer size and destructive capability of these vehicles.
Claybrook says distractions are a huge problem among city bus drivers, and says some make mistakes from the stress of trying to keep up with schedules. We approached some Metrobus drivers on the street to ask about their training. They wouldn't comment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you driving somewhere (ph)?
TODD: No, I'm not (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Step back, please.
TODD: Can you talk to us, though, about your training, anything like that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, sir.
TODD (voice-over): But Metrobus official Jack Requa says the training is excellent, that their drivers have an exceptional safety record , especially considering what they're up against.
METROBUS OFFICIAL JACK REQUA: We carry about 543,000 passengers on a given weekday. We've got the challenges of pedestrians, double parking, events that are taking place, construction. But the numbers are getting better and we think that the program works.
TODD (voice-over): Meaning they use these clips as a training tool. Metrobus officials add that their drivers operate in a region rated by safety officials as the most congested area of the U.S. in traffic, and with some of the worst drivers. They say accidents are trending down with only two customer injuries per 1 million passenger trips.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Want to bring in Brian Todd, live for us in Washington.
Brian, your piece was kind of tough to watch.
TODD: Right.
BALDWIN: I mean, a lot of those were beyond close calls. Is Metrobus -- are they disciplining any of the drivers that we saw in the video?
TODD: They say they are, Brooke. They're disciplining some drivers regarding those incidents that we saw on videotape, and some others possibly. They did not specify, you know, for which incidents they're disciplining people. They say they're actually starting to review some of these tapes now, as we mentioned in the piece. They are using this videotape as a teaching tool.
But they also say they have a zero tolerance policy on distraction. The Metrobus officials tell us if they catch anyone using a cell phone even once, they're terminated. So they say they're being very vigilant about these incidents.
BALDWIN: Wow, Brian Todd, thank you. And now this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could talk to the families and the victims right now. They were led to believe by the police that we had done it. So I understand that they hate us. You know, hate me. But I didn't do it. You know? I didn't have anything to do with it. I'm sorry that your kids are dead. I'm sorry about that, but all I ask is that y'all go back and look at the evidence.
Just stop and think and don't let your emotions about it all get to your head, and just stop and think and look back at the evidence, and look where the evidence does point. And ask yourself, now who do you think really done it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: What a story this is. That is the third installment of the West Memphis 3 documentaries on HBO. You remember the story, these three teenagers at the time, teenagers in Arkansas, who were wrongfully convicted of brutally killing those three young boys.
Standing by right now to talk to me about this whole ordeal and this latest documentary, Jason Baldwin, also one of the filmmakers, Joe Berlinger. That is coming up after this quick break. Do not miss this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: It has been just about six months now since the men known as the West Memphis 3 were freed. The men were teenagers when they were convicted of the murders of these three second graders. To this day, investigators don't know what happened to Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Steve Branch back on May 6th, 1993.
But tonight, HBO will show what happened to Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley during the last 18 years as the West Memphis 3 sat in prison, charged with murders they say they did not commit. That documentary and the makers of the doc were there from the very beginning 18 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty good. (Inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long has it been since the last time we did this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were talking about that in the car. Ten years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's been a long time.
DAMIEN ECHOLS: I really do believe these people would have gotten away with murdering me if it would not have been for what you guys did, for being there in the very beginning and getting this whole thing on tape, so that the rest of the world sees what was happening.
If not for that, these people would have murdered me, swept this under the rug and I wouldn't be anything but a memory right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
B. BALDWIN: The producer and co-director of that documentary is Joe Berlinger. He joins me once again, and so does Jason Baldwin, one of the West Memphis 3. Gentlemen, nice to have you on.
Jason, whew, 18 years. Here are you, six months later, a free man. I mean, has it fully sunk in for you? What have you been up to?
JASON BALDWIN, FORMER PRISONER: You know, every day I wake up with this feeling of thanksgiving. Just ultimate, like I am here. I am -- have the ability to speak with my family, to talk to my friends and be with people who care for me and love me. And I'm not in prison anymore.
And it's just the greatest thing. I tried to take -- be mindful of every moment, of every opportunity, just to be thankful to people who lent their support and efforts towards, you know, seeking justice in this case.
B. BALDWIN: Wow, thanksgiving every day. Jason and Joe, both of you, of course, the day was August 19th, the day, you, Jason, and Damien and Jessie were, you know -- essentially you called an Alford plea. So for people who don't understand, that's essentially saying, you know, yes, you would enter this guilty plea, satisfying the charges against you in the eyes of the state.
But, you know, you were set free. You could go off and proclaim your innocence. And I know for you, specifically -- and I remember the day, I remember the news conference, you know, you were talking about how that was not easy to accept. Let me just -- let me roll that clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) anything like that, it was just like, our names, our favorite bands, things like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) the trial and court as much as possible. But he had it so much worse than I did. You know, death row and this is insufferable to put a person through that. And for anyone (inaudible). And I don't even know why I didn't think too much about that at first. You know, when the plea came to me.
But I'm just glad that he's out now and going to be with his wife and, you know, surrounded by people who love him and care for him and that's not just intent on hurting him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to publicly thank Jason, too, just to let him know that I do acknowledge what he did, that he did want to keep fighting. He didn't want to take this (inaudible). And I recognize and acknowledge that he did do it almost entirely for me. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
B. BALDWIN: What a moment. I mean, you saved your friend's life. Damien was on death row. I know, Jason, you want a full exoneration. Do you think you'll get it?
J. BALDWIN: You know, my attorneys are working hard on -- and there's still DNA evidence that has not been tested, that the state has contested us being allowed to be tested all these years. But it's slowly moving forward.
And it is my hope that, one day, not only for Damien, Jessie and myself to be fully exonerated, but we find who did this to these boys. I mean, it's a horrible crime. It's a horrible thing. And it didn't just affect them.
It affected us, it affected all of our families. And for all of our families to have peace, for the towns to have peace, you know, every opportunity, everything to be pursued needs to be pursued.
B. BALDWIN: And that's a question that's still sort of floating out there.
Joe, I know you addressed part of that in your documentary. But I do want to ask you -- so this is "Paradise Lost," this is part three, you call it "Purgatory," and this film starts with a very gruesome murder scene. Those three little boys, naked bodies. Why begin with such a graphic image?
JOE BERLINGER, DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR: Well, you know, that decision has been questioned by some. But, you know, you have to understand how brutal this crime was. And by understanding just how vicious this crime was, you begin to understand how the town could have had this kind of rush to judgment, this desire to just solve the crime.
And I think state officials or the local officials at the time, you know, they were saying, on a scale of 1 to 10, this was an 11. And in fact, the evidence is so weak, there's almost no -- there's almost no evidence, physical evidence, linking these guys to the crime. It's all extremely circumstantial.
And we just wanted to, you know, make people understand that this crime was just so horrifying that people were scared and wanted it solved. And, unfortunately, the local officials, you know, did what they could do get the crime -- to get a quick solution, but not the right solution.
B. BALDWIN: Get some people -- get some people in jail. You know, you and I talked, Joe, back when everything happened back on August 19th. And you told me, right, you told me your team was in the edit bay, basically color correcting this film. You know, you thought you had one ending of the story. Suddenly you hear about the Alford plea. Hope -- I don't know if you hop in the car, hop a flight to Jonesboro. Tell me about that moment and this ending.
BERLINGER: Well, you know, we had -- we had already been invited to the Toronto Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, and we also wanted this film to be on television in November, because there was supposed to be an evidentiary hearing in December.
So we wanted the world -- we wanted Arkansas to know, the state of Arkansas because the good people of Arkansas deserve better. We wanted people to know that, you know, the world is watching.
And that evidentiary hearing ended up getting canceled in lieu of this Alford plea. And so we were told that, you know, something big is happening and we've got to get down there. And we dropped everything and, you know, filmed them getting out of prison, you know, tears of joy.
Tears of joy at seeing them breathe fresh air, but utter indignation at what the State of Arkansas, the raw deal that these guys had to take.
You know, it is great that the death penalty for Echols was vacated. It's great that the life sentences for Jason and Jessie were vacated.
But they've had to falsely admit to crimes, just so the state would not be sued for wrongful conviction, which is just tragic because, you know, you're telling the families of the victims, basically, we're not going to look for the real killers. And that's just a travesty of justice.
B. BALDWIN: Well, you address that in the documentary. Sort of a final question to both of you. I'm going to play one more clip. And your documentary also talks about the person the defense -- if I can get that out -- the defense believes who did murder these boys. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Damien Echols quit talking to reporters after getting warnings from his attorneys. Last week Echols said Mark Byers committed the murders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would it come as a surprise, Mark?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have any comment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got knowledge about the area. He knows when the search is over with. He's big enough that he can carry the boys there and throw them in. His son was the only one mutilated. The other two weren't mutilated. All of the pieces fit together with a person like Byers.
B. BALDWIN: So this question to either of you. Where is this Mark Byers? And are police at all trying to build a case around him?
BERLINGER: We want to be very clear. The film is not saying that Mr. Byers is the killer. That was -- that was an old defense theory during the trial. And Mr. Byers, in fact, has become a very staunch supporter of the innocence of the West Memphis 3.
And I think that -- we don't know what happened in this crime. All we know, all we know is that these guys are innocent, and the State of Arkansas needs to really fully exonerate them and start looking for the real killer. But Mr. -- we don't think the Mr. Byers is the killer.
B. BALDWIN: Jason, final word to you. What do you want people to walk away when they see this film?
J. BALDWIN: Well, first of all, the night of the murders, the night the boys came up missing, there was a guy who went in, who came out of the very ditch the boys were found in the next day, covered in mud and blood, and went into the women's restroom in the Bojangles restaurant.
That evidence was lost. And that was a mistake made, that the police made. I can understand people make mistakes, things are dropped, things are lost. But to set Jessie up, to set Damien up and set me up, that was the wrong thing. That's a problem. That's a problem and it doesn't need to continue on.
Our names need to be exonerated. And the search for whoever did this needs to continue. I just want to say thank you to all the people who have sent their support, you know, whether it be through letter or concert or anything. Thank you so much for making hope possible. Thank you.
B. BALDWIN: Jason Baldwin and Joe Berlinger, I thank you both. And let's just remind everyone: "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory," airs tonight on HBO at 9 o'clock Eastern. Gentlemen, thank you.
Volunteers for the 2012 Olympics got a smackdown when it comes to social media. Coming up next, we're going to show you what they have been banned from doing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
B. BALDWIN: Even though we're saying trending, I guess you could kind of classify this next story as what won't be trending. Tens of thousands of volunteers at the Summer Games in London have been warned no social media allowed.
So, what is an eager 20-something Olympicophile to tweet, to do? CNN's Phil Hahn picks up the story for us from London.
PHIL HAHN, CNN REPORTER: Hi, Brooke. Well, it's just over seven months until the 2012 Olympics here in London. But if you're one of the 70,000 volunteers at the games, don't even think about using social media to tell your friends what you're doing. Well, that's because the London Organizing Committee has banned all the volunteers from using sites like Twitter and Facebook during their shifts. Now, the specific restrictions say that the volunteers or game makers, as they're also known, can't share what roles they have, their locations or even athletes they might run into. So that means no snaps if you bump into Michael Phelps.
Now, this is in stark contrast to what the athletes will be encouraged to do.
They're actively being asked to use social media and to tweet and post Facebook updates of their experience in London and even upload video diaries of their time during the Olympics.
Now, the Organizing Committee said that these social media guidelines are nothing out of the ordinary and that the volunteers shouldn't be surprised. They said these are simply intended for the protection of the Games and its workers.
But the only problem, with 70,000 volunteers, I know I wouldn't want to be responsible for monitoring all those accounts -- Brooke.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
